In recent years very limited work has been carried out towards the development of new chemical entities in the therapy of epilepsy. Recent reports about the anticonvulsant properties of cannabidiol suggest that it may have clinical potential as an anti-epileptic drug. As it belongs to a new class of compounds called cannabinoids which have a unique pharmacological profile, unlike any other CNS drug, the overall objective of our proposed work is to develop a cannabinoid as a novel antiepileptic agent with low neurotoxicity. We have proposed to achieve this by a study of antiepileptic Structure Activity Relationship (SAR) in cannabinoids particularly cannabidiol and structure modifications to develop a novel and safe anticonvulsant. The various cannabidiol homologs and closely related congeners will be synthesized by known methods and tested by us for anticonvulsant activity (audiogenic seizure test only) and other gross behaviorial and motor function tests in mice to allow us a quick and early indication of the separation between neurotoxicity and retention of anticonvulsant activity. We would then be able to pursue the most promising chemical leads. These compounds will also be submitted to the Antiepileptic Drug Development (ADD) program for evaluation and data from both sources will be used to develop leads in achieving the goals of this project.